GOP Rep. Says McConnell Has to Step Down After Health Care ‘Failure’

Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to step down from his leadership role after the Senate failed to pass a “skinny” Obamacare repeal bill early Friday morning.

“Unquestionably the leadership at the top is responsible. The buck stops there, that’s why you take on that kind of responsibility,” Brooks told CNN’s Chris Cuomo Friday. “And if Mitch McConnell cannot get the job done on this, how is he going to get the job done on the rest of President Trump’s agenda over the next three and a half years? This is a killer.”

Brooks is running for the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, which is currently held by Republican Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed in February by former governor Robert Bentley.

“It’s not necessarily anything bad about Mitch McConnell himself personally,” Brooks said. “But he’s got a job to do, and if he can’t do it then as The Apprentice would say, ‘you’re fired,’ get somebody who can.”

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., cast the deciding vote to kill the Obamacare repeal. Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine also voted against the bill.

Brooks said the Senate’s approach to repealing Obamacare was an “abject failure” from the bottom to the top.

“It was an abject failure of the United States to do what America needs doing,” Brooks said. “It was a failure from the newest member Luther Strange at the bottom to the very top with Mitch McConnell.”

Brooks added that it was critical for the Senate to continue working towards an Obamacare repeal plan, or else the rest of President Donald Trump’s agenda would be at risk.

“As you recall from six months ago, if we did not get health care passed, that meant that there would be no tax reform, which in turn meant that there would be no infrastructure improvements.”

“I hope that the Senate will not quit,” Brooks said. “I hope and I urge the Senate to stay in Washington D.C. until the job gets done.”

“If they’re gonna quit, well then, by golly, maybe they ought to start at the top with Mitch McConnell leaving his position, and letting somebody new, somebody bold, somebody conservative take the reins so that they can come up with a plan that can get through the United States Senate and serve the needs of the American people.”

It’s not the first time Brooks has called for McConnell to relinquish his role as Senate majority leader.

Brooks dubbed McConnell the “head of the swamp” during a policy breakfast Wednesday at the conservative Heritage Foundation.

Brooks faced a crowded Republican field in Alabama’s upcoming special election to fill Sessions’ seat in the Senate. His two most notable opponents are sitting Sen. Luther Strange and former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore.